Bekky flies out to European Junior Championships on 18th Birthday

Three members of S.K.K Judo Club in Merseyside have been selected to represent Great Britain at the European Junior Championships in Bosnia Herzegovina this weekend from Friday to Sunday (20 to 22 September).

Sisters Bekky Livesey (-57kg) and Amy Livesey (-70kg), from St Helens who train at the Earlestown club in Newton Le Willows, are looking forward to the event in Sarajevo, as is Jodie Myers (+78kg), from Liverpool, who has also been selected to compete for her country.

S.K.K’S head coach, Peter Blood said: “The girls have been going abroad for quite a few years, gaining the experience and they are all doing fantastic. They deserve success."

For Jodie and Bekky, it will be their first time at these championships.Bekky will be travelling out on her 18th birthday while elder sister, Amy has been to the European Championships before - three times!

Amy and Bekky are very dedicated. They train every day and night, go to Excell sessions as part of the England Programme on a Tuesday and follow the programme religiously, added Blood.

Bekky said: “ I am very excited about competing in my first junior Europeans I really hope I can medal, travelling out on my 18th birthday makes it even more memorable.”

Amy added: “ I am really looking forward to competing in my 3rd and last junior Europeans hoping to do better than last year and get a medal.

Jodie, 18, from Liverpool, has just started a business degree at the University of Walsall so will be handily located next to the Centre of Excellence. She is also very committed to her judo.

Jodie said: “I feel privileged to be part of such a strong team and am excited to get out there and get that medal!”

Blood added: “We seem to have a lot of girls at our club. I reckon we have around 40 -45 girls across the club and in my last class, out of 25 kids, I counted 15 girls. All three girls are an inspiration for them.”

The girls will join the likes of Nekoda Davis (-57kg) and Philip Awiti-Alcaraz (-100kg) at the championships, a major ranking event in the EJU Calendar. For a full preview and other contenders visit britishjudo.org.uk/news.

The action begins at 10:00 local time, 11:00 BST. Tune into ippon.tv for live coverage and keep up to date with pools and score sheets at www.ippon.org.uk pr follow British Judo Association's official facebook and twitter accounts.

For more information about the club email skkjudo@hotmail.com or call the club on 01925 226 885.